Decisive Games in Hoogeveen Round 3

[Event "Hoogeveen Masters Match"]  [Site "Hoogeveen Chess Tournament"]  [Date "18.10.2016"]  [Round "3"]  [White "Short, Nigel D"]  [Black "Hou, Yifan"]  [Result "1-0"]  [ECO "E05"]   { Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bf4 Nc6 11.Nc3 Nb4 12.Qc1 Qc8 { This is a new try, usually Black opts to locate has Queen's rook here, with ...Ra8 or to occupy the d5 square with ...Nbd5. Striking at the centre with ...c5 has also been tried with ok results, but Hou obviously wants to prepare that a little more first. } 13.a3 { Booting the knight out makes sense, it is a little imposing. The alternative was Rd1. } 13...Nbd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 { I think of the two players, Black will be rather happy at this stage. There is a certain harmony in her piece setup, with White's yet to show their worth. } 15.Bg5 f6 16.Bd2 c5 { Perfect timing for this move with White not as yet having the most active of set ups. } 17.Ba5 { threatening some mischief via e2-e4, which would win a pawn after the knight goes to its only safe square of c7. } 17...f5 { Hou played this after a bit of a think, and it certainly is one of the viable options, here (aimed at preventing e2-e4). Slightly better, perhaps, was c5-c4, however. } ( 17...c4 18.e4 Nc7 19.Qf4 Ne8 { Black seems perfectly fine, here. } ) 18.dxc5 Qxc5 { I am not quite sure about Black's willingness to go in to an endgame, here. At this time, she is the one with the endgame weakness -- the backward pawn on e6. } ( 18...Bxc5 19.Ng5 h6 20.Nh3 Rb8 { Seems to be ok for Black. } ) 19.Qxc5 Bxc5 20.Ng5 { Immediately giving e6 a tickle. The other consideration is of course the Nd5, which at the moment can not move due to the Bb7. One would have to give White some initiatve, here, Black must tread carefully. } 20...Rfe8 21.Rad1 { The optimum move, putting the Black position under great pressure. Nxe6 is the threat. } 21...Ba7 22.Nxe6 Rxe6 23.Rxd5 { slightly the better way to go than Bxd5. } 23...Rxe2 { Fighting well and limiting the damage when compared to other options. } 24.Bc3 Bc6 { This was probably forced, the threat was Rd7. } 25.Rxf5 Bxg2 26.Kxg2 Rf8 27.Rxf8+ Kxf8 28.Kf3 { With a very big, if not decisive edge. } 28...Rc2 29.Ke4 { Nigel Short is one of the best players with his King; all things considered, these are very worrying times for Yifan Hou. } 29...Re2+ 30.Kd5 Kf7 { to support her rook coming to e6. } 31.Kc6 Re6+ 32.Kb7 Bc5 33.Rd1 g5 { I am not really sure this is the thing to be doing, here. Black should be looking for ways to tighten up, not present White with targets. } ( 33...Rb6+ 34.Kc7 Rh6 35.Rd5 Be7 36.Rd7 Kf8 37.h4 { and White has improved his position. } ) 34.Rd5 Be7 35.f4 gxf4 36.gxf4 Rh6 37.f5 Rxh2 { ok, it is a pawn, but of little consequence. } 38.Kxa6 Rc2 39.Rd7 ( 39.Rxb5 Rf2 ( { no better is } 39...Bxa3 40.Rb7+ Ke8 41.f6 { very much in command of course. } ) 40.Rb7 { is also very rosy for White. } ) 39...Ke8 40.Rd2 Rxd2 { Keeping the rook on is unlikely to be any better in the long run. } ( 40...Rc1 41.Kxb5 Bxa3 42.Rh2 { the fall of the h-pawn is rather inevitable, as is f5-f6 -- and then there's the b-pawn of course. } ) 41.Bxd2 h5 42.Kxb5 { And now it is definitely all over bar the shouting, Short plays this out extremely nicely. } 42...h4 43.Kc6 { Gaining a tempo. Short gets his King out of the way, so that his Queenside pawns can march freely. However, this also costs Black a move. Hou wants to locate her bishop on the h2-b8 diagonal in order to support the h-pawn, but with d6 unsafe, she first has to move it to f6. } 43...Bf6 44.b4 { beginning a march to glory } 44...Be5 45.Be3 { An important move in order to prevent Black's pawn from queening. } 45...h3 46.Bg1 { Black can resign here with a totally clear conscience, it is futile to try to stop all of White's pawns. Meanwhile, her counter-play is halted. } 46...Kf7 47.a4 Kf6 48.a5 Kxf5 49.a6 Bd4 50.Bh2 { And here, Hou resigned. The only Black piece able to influence White's passers is the bishop. With Bh2, Short covers the queening square of the b-pawn, which he can now push freely with the a-pawn as his spare. A very nice game from Nigel Short. } 1-0   [Event "Hoogeveen Masters Match"]  [Site "Hoogeveen Chess Tournament"]  [Date "18.10.2016"]  [Round "3"]  [White "Sokolov, Ivan"]  [Black "Van Foreest, Jorden"]  [Result "1-0"]  [ECO "E73"]   { Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Na6 8.g4 c6 9.g5 Ne8 10.h4 f5 { A new try in this position, ...cxd5 and ...Bd7 had been tried before. } 11.gxf6 Nxf6 { The game now transposes to Van Rekom-Gardi, 2010, which continued 12.h5 and was drawn. } 12.h5 { Sokolov agrees with that continuation. } 12...Qa5 { ? Completely out of context. Instead, ...gxh5 was the most testing -- not only that, but it was necessary. } ( 12...gxh5 13.dxc6 ( { recapturing leaves White with nothing after } 13.Bxh5 cxd5 14.cxd5 Qa5 { = } ) 13...bxc6 14.Qd2 { and White will castle Queenside and look to line his rooks along optimum lines on the Kingside, with a slight initiative. } ) 13.hxg6 Nxe4 { This seems to be the best way to go, and is extremely sharp. } ( 13...hxg6 14.Qd2 { Lining up to play Bh6 } 14...cxd5 15.cxd5 { not exd5, it is best to keep the centre fixed. } 15...Ng4 16.O-O-O { and the initiative for White is undeniable, here. Black will have to find either active defence or counter-play on the Queenside, or he will struggle. } ) 14.gxh7+ Kh8 15.Nf3 { Sokolov smells blood and is going for the King. The knight is heading to h4 and from there g6. } 15...Nxc3 { there appears to be nothing better than this. } ( 15...Bf5 { This is a nice idea, but gives White time to either consolidate or push on. } 16.Rc1 ( 16.dxc6 bxc6 17.Rc1 Rab8 18.Qa4 { is unclear. White is clearly better, but perhaps Black is ok. } ) 16...Nxc3 17.bxc3 cxd5 { ...Qxa2 would be unwise due to dxc6 with Ra1 next. } 18.Qxd5 Qxd5 19.cxd5 Be4 20.Rh3 { White is undeniably better, but the advantage is yet to be converted. } ) 16.bxc3 cxd5 17.Kf1 { It is always prudent to get the King off of the same line as the enemy Queen, mischief happens fast in chess. } 17...Bf5 18.Nh4 dxc4 { an inaccuracy. Black doesn't really want to be opening things up for White, nor letting his bishop get to e6. } ( 18...Nc7 19.Bd3 e4 20.Be2 Rf6 { with Bd4, Bg4, even Rb1 all valid options for White, here. } ) 19.Bxc4 Rac8 { Another error, and this time more serious. Black is in a very bad predicament here, and it is hard to suggest the correct way to go. After ...Nc7, Rc1 is nice for White, preparing Qh5. Or: ...d5, Nxf5 dxc4, Qd7 is extremely powerful. } 20.Be6 { Playing these kinds of moves is chess Heaven. This bishop of course can not be taken, as it would allow Ng6 checkmate. } 20...Be4 { All the pieces on the board fade in to insignificance for Black at the moment, compared to this Bishop, upon which his King's survival depends. } 21.Qg4 ( { or } 21.Bxc8 Rxc8 22.f3 Rf8 23.Kg2 Bf5 24.Nxf5 Rxf5 25.Qxd6 { completely winning. } ) 21...Bd3+ 22.Kg1 Rce8 23.Bf5 { Nice play by Sokolov means that Black's light-squared bishop must leave the board. From here it will be very hard for Van Foreest to survive without cost. } 23...Bxf5 24.Qxf5 { The best recapture, but Nxf5 was also very good. If you can play a move like this in a chess game, though, you most likely play it. } 24...Rf6 { Obviously, the protection of the g6-square is paramount. } 25.Bg5 Rfe6 26.Ng6+ { The mate is not on, so White takes the next best, material gain. } 26...Rxg6 27.Qxg6 { With a new threat of Bf6. } 27...Rf8 { This is not really very adequate, but then again, nothing is at this stage, Black is toast. } 28.Be7 { Not Bh6, which although White is still in command, allows Black to liquidate and gain some activity -- and means that White still has to do some work to do. This move, in effect, end the game due to the rook having no safe square left allowing his to defend either f6 or the back rank. } 28...Rxf2 { This is in effect resignation, Van Foreest resigned soon after playing it, on account of the following: } 29.Qxg7+ Kxg7 30.h8=Q+ Kf7 31.Rh7+ Ke6 32.Qc8+ Kd5 33.Rd1+ Ke4 34.Qc4+ Kf5 35.Rh5+ Kg6 36.Rg5+ Kh7 37.Qh4# 1-0